


A Light in the Darkness

by Krysstinia



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-27
Updated: 2013-08-27
Packaged: 2017-12-24 20:07:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/944108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krysstinia/pseuds/Krysstinia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Eugenics War started, it wasn't just the Augments who were targeted. Now, it's time for vengeance. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR INTO DARKNESS</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Light in the Darkness

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story posted to AO3. I hope you like it! Please take the time to review.
> 
>  
> 
> I do not own either Star Trek or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I'm just playing in their sandbox

Prologue

The first thing she saw was the bleach white ceiling that could only come from a hospital room. Buffy quickly took stock of her body. When she had agreed to be put in the cryotube, the ship had been under attack and it was unclear if any of them would make it. Obviously they had made it, but where were they and how long had they been floating in space?

The bruises and cuts she remembered having when she got in had completely healed. Her left arm had healed and her body was back in fighting condition. She slowly sat up, flexing her hands as she swung her legs over the side of he bed she was siting in. “You’re awake, then? Nice to know you’ve survived, Summers.”

There was only one person Buffy knew that had that rich, baritone voice. “Khan,” she said, nodding slightly. “Do you know anything about where we are?”

Khan tilted his head to the right and pointed with his eyes to the corner of the room. What was quite obviously a camera was recording them. “Only what I was told when I awoke. They are called Starfleet. They found our ship a week ago. Our cryogenic tubes were beginning to malfunction. To save our lives, they woke us up. Everyone else is stable, and asleep.”

Buffy nodded and rubbed her eyes. There was a soft whoosh and a door opened on the wall opposite the two beds in the room. “Thank you for bringing her up to speed.” The man stood tall, hands behind his back at parade rest and feet shoulder width apart. He wore a look on his face that made Buffy cringe. Khan didn’t look any happier. “Welcome aboard the Defiant. My name is Admiral Marcus. You were Summers and Khan. Now you are John and Elizabeth Harrison. If you would come with me?”

Buffy glanced at Khan. His face was unreadable for those who didn’t know him, but she could read the distrust and discomfort there as if he had told it to her. She felt the same way. The admiral reminded her too much of Professor Walsh and she hadn’t known the guy for more than a minute. “Why are we here?” she said, not getting up.

“Your ship was drifting in space,” Marcus said. “It has been for 300 years at the very least. You are the remainder of what was recorded in Earth’s history as the Eugenics War. We are familiar with you and what you were trying to do while on Earth. You and Khan were genetically enhanced to be better than the human race, to be stronger, smarter, faster. That’s what I need. I need you to help the Federation become better.”

“What about the rest of our people?” Khan asked.

“What about them?” Marcus said. “They will remain in Federation custody until I get what I want.”

“You’re holding them hostage,” Buffy surmised.

The admiral nodded. “If you do what I tell you, they will be safe. No harm will come to them.”

Buffy glanced at Khan again. She knew him well and she could trust him. She sent him a tiny nod. Khan turned his attention to Marcus. “What do you need us to do?”

~~~

Marcus led Khan and Buffy down the corridor and into the elevator. “Your alias’s are married. You two will share living quarters on this ship until we reach Earth. When we arrive, I will take you to one of Starfleet’s top secret research facilities. There I will explain to you what I need you to do. Until then, you are to remain in your quarters unless you are escorted by a crew member.” The doors to the lift opened and Marcus stepped out. Buffy and Khan followed. “Only the chief medical officer, my first officer and I know who you are, no one else on this ship knows your true identities. I’d like it to remain that way. Someone will be by three times a day to escort you to the mess hall for meals. We will reach Earth in about a week.” Marcus stopped by a door and put a code into the panel by it. The door opened with the same whoosh that the door in the hospital and lift had. “This is you. You should spend your time catching up on Earth technology. I’ll see you soon.”

Buffy and Khan stepped into the room. Buffy could hear Marcus locking it behind them, but choose to look around the room instead. The two of them were standing in the living area. A couch and two chairs, on either side of a coffee table, were positioned near the window that showed space. A machine was along the wall to Buffy’s left. Near the window, which ran along the entire back wall, and to Buffy’s left was another door that lead to the bathroom. The bedroom door was in the center of the wall to Buffy’s right. On the coffee table were two PADDS that reminded Buffy of iPads, though these were transparent.

Khan went further into the room, exploring their surroundings and looking for any way out. She knew he would. He didn’t like cages and didn’t do well with authority. She didn’t blame him. She was much the same way and they both had too much experience with people in authority to trust Marcus at his word.

Buffy patted herself down and found what she was looking for, grateful that Marcus’s people had left her clothes alone. Both she and Khan were in the clothes they had been frozen in, and in a pocket of Buffy’s jacket, she found what she was looking for.

She took out a pen and the small pad of paper and wrote Khan a note. We are being monitored? Video, audio? 

She walked over to him and placed a hand on his upper arm. He turned to face her and she put the note in his hand. He read it and nodded. He took her pen and added to her note. _Yes, both. I bet they’ll have the computer monitor our access to their archives. We need to be careful._

Buffy nodded and put the pad and pen away. She sat down on the couch and picked up a PADD “Did Marcus tell you how to use these things? I have some history to catch up on.”

~~~

Buffy and Khan spent the week reading anything they could get their hands on and spent most of their time in their room. They only spoke to each other when they needed to ask the other a question about whatever they were reading at the time. By the time Marcus visited them again, when the ship had reached Earth, both Buffy and Khan were mostly caught up on what had happened in the 300 years since they had left Earth.

“Ready to go back home?” Marcus asked, rubbing his hands together.

~~~

The research facility that Marcus took them to was looking into a way to weaponize Starfleet. There were some great ideas, but the scientists didn’t know how to implement them. “What I want you to do,” Marcus said, when he introduced Buffy and Khan to Agent Stiles, head of Section 31, “is to find a way to make all their ideas work. I want a starship that is a military marvel. It needs to go faster, be able to take on more damage, and be abled to run on fewer personnel than the ships we have today. I want a working prototype in ten years. You two will make that possible.”

“What will we get if we do what you want?” Khan asked, keeping his voice as unemotional as he could.

“You will get your crew, in the end. Right now, you two will be able to work together. Stop cooperating with me and you’ll be separated. If you continue to be uncooperative, I’ll kill one of you. Maybe that will keep the other from making the wrong choices.”

~~~

“When will you awaken someone else?” Buffy asked. She and Khan had been working with Section 31 for a year. She had worked on ways to man a ship with the least amount of people possible and had narrowed it down to one, with maximum efficiency with two. Khan had developed plans to make the ship more powerful and stronger with a minimum increase in cost production. Everything that they had done so far was theoretical, but they were both fulfilling their end of the bargain, but Marcus had yet to fulfill any part of his.

“I need you and John to do a keep cover mission for me.” Marcus ignored Buffy’s demand and continued on what he was originally there for. Khan abandoned his research station and made his way over to them. “John,” Marcus nodded to him. “I have a mission for you and your wife. It is specially suited for people of your talents and I think you’ll enjoy it.”

Buffy inwardly groaned. Lately, whenever Marcus said that, he was planning to run them through their paces, measuring their reflexes, strengths and endurance. Khan’s face, as ever, was expressionless. She managed to keep her face expressionless as well.

“Your mission is to infiltrate Klingon space. We need full technical readouts of their spaceships, especially their tactical, navigational, and engineering systems. Get the information any way you can and get back to Federation space. Your ship is waiting for you. If you don’t come back within six months, I’ll kill one of your crew at random for each week you’re late.”

Khan’s eyes narrowed angrily, but he nodded. Buffy, following his lead, nodded as well.

“Good luck, then, John, Elizabeth. Come back in one piece.”

~~~

Khan put the shuttle on autopilot and turned to face Buffy. “I’ve disabled any equipment they could be using to spy on us.” 

Buffy relaxed and exhaled deeply. “Thank god.” She slumped in her chair. For the past year, they were under constant observation and the feeling of living in a fish bowl was one she didn’t enjoy. Khan was the only one who kept her sane and she would wager she had done the same to him. “What are we going to do?”

“There’s only one option at the moment,” Khan said, rubbing his face with his hands. “We must continue to cooperate. There is a slim chance that one can get away without the other…”

“I’m not leaving you to the likes of Marcus, and you’re not leaving me,” Buffy interrupted.

“But would be easier if we escaped together,” Khan continued. “Those people aren’t just my people, they’re yours too.”

Buffy nodded. Willow was one of the frozen. Xander, Faith, Giles, Rhona, Vi, Kennedy, and any Slayer that had survived the Purge was there, bringing the total frozen to 144, that had survived. When the Augments had been targeted, Earth targeted anyone who was more than human, whether they be their own science experiment that had gotten away from them, or the ones that had protected them from monsters. Slayers had been grouped in the same category as the Augments. Buffy and Khan approached each other and formed a pact to ensure their survival and had been kicked off the planet at the end of the War. History said that the Augments had been trying to take over the world. Buffy and Khan were just trying to save their people from extermination.

“We have to continue to play the Admiral’s game and wait for the best opportunity.”

Buffy nodded, and grabbed Khan’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here with me. I would’ve broken years ago if you hadn’t helped me keep strong.”

Khan pulled her close and held her tight. “I know. You have made this more bearable. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that you agreed to join forces all those years ago.”

Khan pulled back slightly and kissed her. The kiss was passionate and heated. She kissed him back as furiously as he kissed her. Khan picked her up and carried her to the back of the shuttle and laid her on her back on the bench seat. Qu’noS was several hours away at maximum warp, they had plenty of time.

~~~

Seven years after their data collection mission, Khan and Buffy were still the only members of their sleeper ship that had been awoken. The two of them were working on special torpedoes when Admiral Marcus approached them for another special mission. “We are under attack by a Romulan ship from an alternate future. You two must come up with a way to get the weapons you’ve been working on operational!”

“That’s impossible, sir,” Khan said quietly but firmly. “The power supply for the phasers isn’t yet calibrated and there is no ammunition. The advanced phasors aren’t ready.”

“The torpedoes aren’t ready either,” Buffy said, before the admiral could say anything. “We’ve barely got the materials together and are still waiting on some of the advanced pieces.”

“Is anything ready?” Marcus shouted.

“Not at this time. We didn’t have any notice that there was an attack,” Khan said.

As Admiral Marcus stormed away, Buffy smirked at Khan, who also had a satisfied grin on his face. “Set your tricorder to record the battle above. We might be able to use any data later.”

Buffy nodded. Some of their ideas had been put on the _Enterprise_ during its most recent refit on Marcus’s orders as a test run. He was satisfied with their work so far, but not enough to awaken anyone else. She squeezed Khan’s wrist and went back to work, a different kind of smile on her face.

~~~

A year later, Khan came back to his shared quarters with Buffy with a big grin on his face. The ship they had been working on, christened the _USS Vengeance_ by Admiral Marcus, was a few days from completion. Their crew was safely hidden in the torpedoes that they had designed a few years ago. Marcus was gearing up to start his war with the Klingons. It was time to get their revenge, save their crew, and make their escape.

~~~

Chapter 1

“Were you followed?”

Buffy shook her head as she took off her long hooded jacket. She threw it over the nearest table and walked to Khan’s side. “I don’t think so. I did, however, find the perfect candidate to destroy Section 31.” She handed him an encrypted PADD. “Thomas Harewood. You remember him, right? He’s one of our keepers, and his daughter is dying.”

“If I cure her, do you think he’ll do it?”

“He’s our best shot, unless you want to wait for a more opportune person. But if we wait, we might miss out on getting our people. We don’t know when they will be used. I didn’t like putting them in the torpedoes in the first place.”

“It was the best way to protect them.”

“It was also a way to guarantee their death if someone uses them.”

“Would you rather they get trapped like we did?” Khan’s voice was dark and dangerous. “They are my family. If I can’t get them out of the clutches of the Federation, then I’d rather them be killed.”

“I’m not starting this argument again,” Buffy said, raising her hands in surrender. “I agreed when we did it, and I still do. Agreement doesn’t mean I like it, however.”

Khan sighed. “I don’t like it either, but was the best thing to do at the time.”

“Thank you for saying it,” Buffy said. 

Khan walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. He kissed her forehead, then rested his forehead on hers. “We can do this. I’ll meet with Harewood. You can deliver the vial and the bomb.”

“And Stage Two?”

“The first officers and captains of the ships in the area will meet after Section 31 is destroyed. Marcus will be there, it’s our best chance of killing him. Stay as close to the torpedoes as possible. If they send someone after me with them, stick to Marcus, if he survives.”

“Alright. If you die, I’ll have Willow bring you back so I can kill you myself.” 

Instead of answering, Khan kissed her deeply. After a few minutes, Khan broke away with a soft kiss. “Wish me luck.”

Buffy kissed him softly then backed away. “Good luck.”

~~~

Khan stood patiently in the courtyard of the Royal Children’s Hospital. Harewood would come out eventually, and with luck he would come out without his wife. Harewood would be harder to manipulate than his wife, but he was the one with access to Section 31. His wife was a school teacher, and while that was a useful occupation, it didn’t help Khan.

Khan watched as Harewood kissed his daughter’s forehead and walked out of the room. A few minutes later, Harewood walked out onto the balcony that served as the courtyard for the hospital. Khan watched as the defeated man walked to the railing. He leaned against it and hung his head. Khan stepped out of the shadows and came closer to Harewood. “I can save your daughter.”

Harewood’s head jerked up alarmingly fast. He turned around, his eyes widening when he saw Khan. “What?”

“Your daughter. I can save her.”

“How?”

“What will do you for me if I do?”

“How can you save her?”

Khan shook his head. “I’m not hear to answer your questions. You need to answer mine first. Do you want me to save your daughter?”

Harewood slumped. “I’d do anything. Please, what do I have to do?”

Khan grinned.

~~~

Khan entered their shared apartment, pulled off his scarf and tossed it and his coat on a nearby table. “He’ll do it.”

Buffy nodded. “Good. I got the blood sample. You’ll need to give me some of yours, then it’ll be ready. Thank god Andrea’s a Potential, or this wouldn’t work.” She handed Khan a phial and a ring. “This is the explosive. Just add water for the big bang!”

“And the tech who built it?”

“One’s dead, and the other’s in this room.” Buffy smiled and darted in for a quick kiss. “I put foxglove in his drink. It’ll show on a tox screen, but I’m sure that no one will recognize it. Even if they did, there’s a movement back to the simplistic that Dr. Thomas was a part of. Any doctor would assume he ingested it by mistake. Botany wasn’t his strong point.”

“That’s my girl,” Khan said, with a smile.

“Add your blood and I’ll be able to deliver the blood while you get the prototype. The first step is almost complete. Do you know where they’re keeping the ship?”

Khan nodded. “I’ll get the ship, you get the transporter device. We’ll meet outside London. You need to get yourself to San Francisco. Track the torpedoes.”

“I will. Marcus won’t keep getting away so easily.” Buffy held a the syringe.

Khan nodded and took it. He folded up his right sleeve and popped a vein. With steadier hands than any normal human being, he used his left hand to draw his blood from his right arm. He pulled out the needle when the phial was halfway full and injected his blood into the one that already had Buffy’s. He shook it, mixing the two and handed it back to her, as well as the ring. “That should do. You know what to do, love.”

Buffy nodded and gathered up all the things she could carry. She and Khan were never going back to this place. Too many memories, too easily trackable to their Harrison identities, and too obvious. She had a safehouse in San Francisco, bought under another alias, but one that no one in the 23rd century would connect to her unless they were obsessed with a defunct organization that wasn’t needed anymore. 

The Council had devolved when the Eugenics War was in full swing. Too many governments distrusted the organization that supported and trained Slayers. They didn’t think that anyone but themselves should have control over their super soldiers. When Khan and his ilk came into the picture, a science experiment in India to create its own, controllable Slayers, India understood that the Council was necessary, but by then it was too late. India was only the first country to ‘build’ their own Slayers, though they had the most success with Khan. England, China, France, Japan, Korea, Iran, Russia, the United States, Brazil, and South Africa weren’t the only ones to try to copy India’s successful creation of genetically enhanced super soldiers, but they were the most successful.

When Buffy heard what was going on, that the super soldiers were being trained to kill each other in cold blood, simply to prove that one country built a better solider than another, she sent out coded messages to the soldiers as a group, offering shelter, training, support and safety to anyone wanting it. Within a year, the Augments, as they were called, had joined with the Council. 

It was hard to tell an Augment from a Slayer at a glance. Five years after India created the first successful Augment, the accusations started coming in. Slowly at first, but soon every country in the world was calling for Buffy’s head. They saw her as the first Augment, the first super soldier, and the reason the ones they created were defecting to her. 

Super solider girls had first appeared in 2003, and Buffy was there when the Council explained what had happened to the girls and asked permission to build schools. Most countries were alright with the building of the schools, but some of them wanted to be able to control their citizens, especially when they were told what a Slayer was capable of.

Giles was the one who brought the missing girls to Buffy’s attention. Girls in India, Iran, China and Pakistan were all missing, but not one country allowed her to go in and search for the missing girls. Five years later, the first Augment was born, Khan.

Khan was only the first, but he was the most successful of the Augments. He had a kind of charisma that pulled people to him. He was the first of the Augments to turn to the Council for help, and where he went, so did his followers. It was when Khan joined the Council that the Eugenics War truly began.

Buffy picked up her passport and handed it to Khan. Khan opened it and nodded approvingly at the document. Karen Singh. His last name and the name of their daughter, one of the frozen they hoped to save. “I’ll see you again, I promise.”

Buffy took her passport back. “You better.”

~~~

Buffy watched as Thomas Harewood walked into his daughter’s hospital room and find the vial and the ring. She watched as he injected the vial into her saline drip and see her begin to get better after a few minutes. Harewood’s face hardened into an unreadable mask. He left the room shortly after he gave his daughter the vial.

Buffy tailed him to Section 31 and watched him enter the building. She walked in a few minutes later and headed to the Research and Development department. R&D was where the experimental transporter was. If Khan needed a quick escape, he’d need it. It would be easier to get it now than to get it from the wreckage of the building, and she had a lower chance of being discovered. 

John Harrison had a higher profile than Elizabeth. He was a Section 31 agent while she was a researcher on high priority projects. He got her things to play with and she worked out was to use them. Other than that one mission she had with Khan, she was kept in the lab. Marcus learned his lesson with that mission.  
Buffy checked into her research station and took the transporter from her desk. Commander Scott had a fantastic mind, if he could be judged by his work. She wished she could complement him. She scanned the room quickly. No one was paying any attention to her, which was the way she liked it. She spent years developing her unfriendly and unapproachable reputation and it had paid off. No one even glanced in her direction nowadays. She put the transporter in its case and put the case in her shoulder bag.

She then logged into her computer for the last time and reported the transporter stolen as of the day before by persons unknown. Buffy shut down her computer and left the building quickly. She was a little too slow. She had barely left the building when it exploded.  
~~~

Khan looked at his watch. Buffy was late, and she was never late unless something had gone wrong. If Harewood wasn’t going to hold to his word, then Buffy would’ve let him know and killed Harewood. That wasn’t what had happened, then. His PADD beeped and the Section 31 bombing was the topic of the front page. One story was a brief overview of the attack, one was a list of those killed or wounded, and one was about the person responsible for carrying out the attack. Khan scanned the third story. He wasn’t suspected at this point in time, but it would only be a matter of time before Marcus realized what had happened.

He scanned the second story and a name half way down the page caused his heart to skip a beat. Elizabeth Harrison was reported to have minor injuries. Buffy hadn’t escaped the explosion in time, which meant that she still had the experimental transporter that he needed for the next attack in a few days. He would need to get in to see her before someone went through her belongings. 

~~~

“I’m fine, I promise,” Buffy said to the doctor trying to examine her. “I’ve got nothing serious. A few cuts and scratches, no more!”

“You were found with a concussion!” the doctor objected.

“I’m fine. I’m checking myself out.”

“You can’t do that!”

“And you can’t keep me here against my will.” Buffy pulled on her ruined jacket and her shoes. “I’m leaving.”

“Actually, you’re staying here for a little while.” Buffy stopped herself from screaming in frustration and rage. Admiral Marcus was standing in the doorway, arms crossed and eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Have you heard from your husband, Elizabeth?”

“Not since this morning when he kissed me goodbye,” she said truthfully. She looked around for the bag with the transporter in it. She found it on a shelf near the bathroom. “What do you want me to do?”

“Your job. In your time you saved the world. I want you to do it again.”

“Is the world under threat?”

Marcus snorted softly. “You know it is. John Harrison is behind this attack, whether or not you knew about what he was doing while on assignment. It was once your duty to protect the Earth. You’ll do it again.”

It was Buffy’s turn to cross her arms and express her anger. “And what will I get out of it? You keep promising to revive our people and you’ve done nothing. You’ve let them rot in their cryrtubes, doing nothing to revive them. I no longer trust you. You can’t keep making empty promises and not expect to get bit.”

“You will do as I command, or you will loose your freedom. I can still take you away from each other.”

Buffy reluctantly agreed with that point. She was about to comment when she saw movement behind Marcus. Khan had heard Marcus’s proposal and threat. He nodded slightly and melted into the corridor behind him.

Buffy nodded to Khan, and Marcus took it as agreement. “I want you at Starfleet Headquarters by this time tomorrow. I’ll give you access to your husband’s file and you’ll find any leads you can. When we brief the fleet’s leadership you’ll give a profile of Harrison, let everyone know what to expect.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Welcome aboard, Commander.”

As they left, Buffy saw Khan enter her hospital room and leave a few seconds later with the transporter.

~~~

Khan punched the wall several times when he had a few minutes alone. Buffy had gotten herself captured. She was being blackmailed to hunt him down. If he didn’t know her true allegiance, he would’ve been worried. Buffy was a frightening opponent, as Marcus was going to find out shortly. Now that he thought about it, having Buffy be the one to hunt him down wasn’t a bad idea. They could use it to their advantage.

He nodded to himself. This could work. He’d have to be careful when he shot up the upper management meeting three days from now. Buffy could take care of herself, but he’d have to make sure not to make things too difficult on her.

~~~

Buffy pulled at the collar of her uniform. She didn’t like it, it was too high. She never liked the stuffiness that Starfleet insisted on, but Admiral Marcus insisted on it. He wanted her to make a good impression. She would be joining the crew of one of these ships to track Khan down and Marcus wasn’t going to have her start off on bad footing.

“Hello, I don’t believe I’ve seen you before.”  
Buffy turned to her right. A man was standing there, dressed in his own version of her dress uniform. His dark blonde hair was artfully spiked, suggesting that he had just gotten out of bed and his blue eyes twinkled with dulled humor.

“I’m new, in a matter of speaking.”

The man extended his hand. “Jim Kirk.”

Buffy took it and smiled, the warmth not reaching her eyes. “Elizabeth Harrison. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Do you know anything about what happened in London?”

“Yes, but if I speak too soon, Admiral Marcus wouldn’t like it.”

“Jim, the meeting’s starting.” Another man said from behind Kirk.

“Yes, Sir!” Kirk turned to Buffy quickly. “I’ll talk to you later.”

Buffy nodded and followed Kirk and his captain into the meeting room. Marcus glared pointedly at her then at the chair beside his. She sat beside him. As everyone took their seats, Admiral Marcus called the meeting to order. “Welcome everyone. My name is Admiral Alexander Marcus. You were called here today because you represent the senior-most crew members of the ships still in the quadrant.

“As you may be aware of, there was a terrorist attack in London last week. Lieutenant Thomas Harewood, the man who set off the explosive, sent a message to Starfleet Headquarters minutes before the attack. He was being bribed to carry out the attack by this man, John Harrison.” A picture of the man appeared on the PADDS in front of everyone.

Buffy started tuning out the admiral and observing the men and women in the room. Mostly human, with a few aliens scattered among them. The one who drew her attention first was a young man, Vulcan by his ears, who was seated directly across from her. Behind his expressionless mask, he looked troubled about something.  
Whispering to her left brought her attention to Kirk and the captain he had come in with. “Leave it, Jim.”

“What is it, son?” Marcus said, stopping his briefing.

“Nothing, Admiral. Jim’s just trying to acclimate to his new position.”

“Nonsense, Admiral Pike.” Admiral Pike, Buffy corrected herself “Let the boy speak. He might’ve noticed something that no one else had.” Marcus’s comment was pointedly directed to her, Buffy knew, but she didn’t let him see how that irked her.

“Why an archive?” Kirk asked. “What’s so special about an archive? Everything in there is public record. Harrison wouldn’t need to blow it up for information.”

“John would’ve had access to anything he wanted,” Buffy agreed. “He was a member of Starfleet and could access any record he wanted. He had no need to blow it up.”

“Ms. Harrison is our expert on our suspect. Being her husband, she knows him quite well.” Marcus said.

“He did, if it was a means to gather us all here,” Kirk continued. “Protocal dictates that when there is a terrorist attack planetside, the command crews of the ships in the area meet to discuss the attack and plan any response, much like we’re doing.”

Marcus’s eyes widened in surprise and a little fear. He grabbed Buffy’s wrist and got to his feet as Kirk got to his feet and shouted. “Clear the room!” The words had barely met the air before the shooting started. Khan was in the prototype gunship, firing at the meeting, aiming specifically for Admiral Marcus. Everyone else was collateral damage.

The window broke first, then phasers and good, old fashioned bullets were being fired into the room. Screams erupted from most of the people in the room as bullets and phase weapons were fired into the room. Explosions threw people about the room, and the room itself began to fall apart.

“You’re coming with me,” Marcus hissed in her ear as he tried to leave the meeting room. “He won’t kill me if I’ve got you.”

Buffy knew that Marcus was right. That didn’t mean that she couldn’t do anything to Marcus though. Anything she did could be explained away by the attack. She swung Marcus around on her arm and into the path of a falling ceiling beam. It hit the admiral on the head as it went down, knocking him unconscious. She pried his fingers off her wrist and scanned the room. 

Many people were hurt or dying, including Admiral Pike, Kirk’s friend. Buffy make a quick decision and rushed to the admiral’s side. The Vulcan she had been watching earlier was there, trying to keep him alive.

“Ms. Harrison, what’s going on? Why is your husband doing this?” the Vulcan asked. Buffy swore that Vulcans were the race that was supposed to have trained all emotion out of themselves, but she knew she could hear fear, desperation and confusion in the Vulcan’s voice.

Buffy didn’t answer. “We need to get him flat,” she said, pulling off her ever constant pack and grabbing her first aide kit. She always had it in case of emergencies. “He’s bleeding too much. If we don’t stop it, he’ll bleed out.”

The Vulcan nodded and pulled Pike into a flatter position. Buffy handed him two gauze pads. “Put these on the areas he’s bleeding out of most. I’m going to get the dermal regenerator out of my pack. Hopefully it will repair his skin before he looses too much blood.”

The Vulcan nodded again and took the pads. He held one to Pike’s chest and the other to Pike’s stomach. “Damn, abdominal wounds are the worst,” Buffy muttered to herself. The Vulcan didn’t answer her. Either he was too busy to bother, or he didn’t deem her comment worthy of response. Buffy pulled out the regenerator and set it on Pike’s stomach, the worse of the two wounds the Vulcan had put pressure on. “Find another while I try to repair his stomach.”

Her companion nodded and moved his hand to Pike’s thigh. Buffy positioned the device over Pike’s stomach, directly over the wound and pressed some buttons on the device. It beeped back at her for a few minutes then a light shone from underneath, directly on the wound. It began to close up, starting with the lowest layer of skin and working its way up. Pike screams of pain faded to a whimper before the machine was done. Buffy pulled the device away a couple minutes later and revealed the newly healed skin.

Buffy heard a crash coming from behind her, where the ship was still firing into the room. She stole a quick look. Someone had thrown a firehose over the landing gear of the ship nearest the port nacelle. The ship was sucking in the hose, which would pull the rack the hose was attached to into the engine, causing the ship to crash. She closed her eyes for a second and refocused her attention to Pike. Khan had the transporter, he could take care of himself.

She moved the regenerator to Pike’s chest, tapping the Vulcan’s arm with the device. He moved his hand and she put the device down and repeated the process on his chest. The Vulcan dropped the gauze pad on the floor and put his hand on Pike’s face, the Vulcan’s face scrunched in concentration. A few minutes later Buffy moved to Pike’s thigh, gently moved the Vulcan’s hand and went to work on the leg.

There was a sudden pause in firing. Buffy looked up and over to where the window used to be. The fire hose rack had, indeed, flown into the engine, which was beginning to fail. Khan turned the ship to one side, and looked directly at her, His eyes softened a fraction before they returned to surveying the scene. His gaze returned to Buffy once before he transported and the ship began to fall.

“Is he alright?” Running footsteps preceded Kirk’s question. “Spock, is he alright?”

“Unknown, Commander,” Spock said.

“I think he slid into a coma. He needs blood, and I don’t have the equipment to do a transfusion here. We need to get him to a hospital as quickly as we can without moving him around too much. The patch job I did could reopen if he’s jostled too much.” Buffy pulled her pack closer and put the regenerator back inside. “I’m not sure he’s going to make it.”

~~~

Chapter 2

Admiral Marcus called Buffy to his office the next morning. “You did good work in there yesterday, Elizabeth. Pike has received his transfusion, though he isn’t expected to pull through. John did a number on him and twenty other people in that room. Where did he go?” 

Buffy shook her head. “I don’t know. Somewhere where he knew he wouldn’t be followed.”

“Sir!” Kirk, Spock and another officer that Buffy hadn’t met entered the room. “Sorry to interrupt, but we’ve got a lead.”

“The bastard used a portable transporter, based on my theory of transwarp beaming,” the unknown man said in a thick Scottish accent. That and the mention of ownership of the transwarp beaming theory identified the new man as Montgomery Scott. “He went to the one place he knows we are unwilling to go.”

“Qu’noS, sir. He went to Qu’noS,” Kirk said. “Permission to hunt Harrison down, sir?”

Buffy could see the wheels turning in Marcus’s head. If that was where Khan went, then he had the opportunity to kill three birds with one stone. He could assign Buffy to the _Enterprise_ , which would go after Khan. He would give Kirk, who was again captain, the torpedoes with her people in them, to shoot at Khan, who would more than likely surrender without a shot when he discovered that the torpedoes were on board. The torpedoes would then strand Kirk in enemy space. Anything else was up to Kirk.

Marcus nodded. “Permission granted. I’m also reinstating you as Captain of the _Enterprise_. You do this and you do this well, son. We don’t want that terrorist on the loose any longer than he has to be. You have permission to shoot on sight.”

“Understood. Permission to reinstate Commander Spock as my first officer?”

“Granted. I want you to take Elizabeth Harrison with you. If anyone can predict John’s actions, it’s her. Keep a close eye on her. If she steps out of line, don’t hesitate to let me know.” Marcus glared at Buffy, as if daring her to argue. She didn’t and kept her anger hidden. She could use the admiral’s plan against him, if she waited for the right moment.

“Yes, sir. Mr. Scott, please escort Ms. Harrison to the shuttle. I have a few more questions for the admiral.”

~~~

Khan scanned the area where he had landed. Ruins surrounded him. He raised his left wrist and pressed some buttons. He had barely had a connection with Buffy, but it did exist. The communicator’s screen showed a short message, one she must’ve sent right before he transported away. _Good luck. See you soon._

Khan smiled softly. Buffy would fulfill her mission. She would find the torpedoes, put herself on the same ship that would go after him, or get put on. She would awaken their crew, and she would lead them to a safe place where they could reunite. So far, so good.

~~~

“I’m going to give you twelve dozen torpedoes to shoot at Harrison’s location,” Marcus said when Scott and Buffy left the room. “They’re a prototype designed to be especially effective against Klingons. If you’re going into Klingon space, you’ll need some of our newest weapons. Harrison, both of them, worked to develop them, so if you need help with them, Elizabeth will be able to answer any questions you have.” Kirk nodded. “Good,” Marcus continued. “Now, here’s what you need to know about that bombing in London.”

~~~

Scott was a pleasant person. He was bubbly and cheerful when running around the engineering bay. Buffy watched him zoom about the place with a smile on her face. Half an hour after they arrived in the engine room of the _Enterprise_ , personnel from Section 31 arrived, bringing torpedoes. Buffy hid her relief as they were brought on board, but her feelings weren’t shared by Commander Scott. “What are those?” he demanded, pointing to the nearest stack of torpedoes.

“Anti-Klingon weapons, sir,” the senior-most officer said. “We’ve got orders to bring them here.”

“Orders from who?”

“Admiral Marcus. We need you to sign for them.” The officer held out a PADD.

Instead of reaching for the PADD, Scott reached for his tricorder and attempted to scan the nearest weapon. “This is shielded, I can’t get a reading.”

“You aren’t authorized to know what’s in the warheads, Commander. Just sign and we’ll be on our way.”

“I’m not signing until I know what’s on my ship!”

“Excuse me, maybe I could help,” Buffy interrupted. She couldn’t let the torpedoes get sent off the ship, not now. She designed them she should be able to find a way around the shield. “May I borrow your tricorder?” 

Scott handed it over and Buffy fiddled with the settings before pressing some buttons on the missile casing. “There we go, I think. How’s that, Mr. Scott?”

Scott took a look and shook his head. “We can’t have these on board. They’ll mess with the warp core, make it malfunction.”

“We gotta have them on board, Mr. Scott.” The Captain had arrived. Kirk nodded to the technician who continued to bring the weapons on board.

“I don’t know enough about them to allow them to be used. Captain, if we let an unknown substance near the warp core, it would malfunction, leaving us stranded in space, at best!”

“These are specialized anti-Klingon weapons. We need them for our mission to be a success, Scotty.” Kirk turned to Buffy. “Is there a way to make sure they don’t interfere with the warp core?”

Buffy shrugged. “I’ve looked at the schematics. There have been some changes to the base design. I could look into it, but we’d need to delay our arrival by at least two days, more if we have to alter every weapon we’re taking with us. If I do this I’d want to do it away from the Starbase so we’re not accused immediately of tampering with Section 31.”

“I can’t go into unknown enemy territory with them on board,” Scott said adamantly. “I’ll resign first!”

Kirk looked defeated. “Then I accept your resignation. Please leave the ship immediately.”

Scott looked surprised, then sad. Buffy understood his point and agreed with his reasoning. But she refused to do anything about it when Marcus could swoop in and mess with the torpedoes again while still at Spacedock. She knew he would if he knew they were being messed with. Stranding the ship was part of his plan. If she worked on the torpedoes to stop Marcus, Buffy could start awakening some of the crew without anyone being aware of it, if she were careful. Being forced to hunt down Khan was turning out better deal than she thought.

“Ms. Harrison, please come with me. I want you to tell me everything you know about your husband that could be helpful.” Kirk turned on his heel and left the room, Buffy following as asked.

~~~

“John is fierce in his beliefs,” Buffy began as she trailed after Kirk, who was leading her through the bowls of the _Enterprise_. “He has a deep attachment to anyone he sees as family and would do anything to protect them, including terrorism.”

“He’s doing all of this to protect some people?” Kirk summarized. “Who?”

“Admiral Marcus is the current head of Section 31, Captain. He’s the one with the power over John. He’d know.”

“You don’t? You’re his wife. He didn’t tell you things?” 

“I may be his wife, but much of what he did was classified to the highest level.” Buffy said pointedly. There were some things about Kirk that reminded her of Khan, and not all of them were complementary to either man. “He was kept from telling me on threat of his life. There were some things I couldn’t tell him either. He was a field agent, and I worked on R&D. I tried to reverse engineer what he and other agents brought back. The torpedoes are one of the weapons I designed. The _USS Vengeance_ is another.”

Kirk reached his destination, a central turbolift that went from the engineering deck to the bridge. “I’ve never heard of the _Vengeance_ before.” 

“You wouldn’t have. She’s on a need to know basis. I have a feeling that you’ll meet her later on in this mission.” Buffy paused as Kirk got into the turbolift, eyes on the floor. “What are you going to do to my husband?” 

“I have orders to shoot him on sight.” 

Buffy’s head flew up in horror. Tears pooled in her eyes as they became glassy. She grabbed Kirk’s hand and squeezed. “Please don’t! Oh, please, don’t kill my husband! He’s all I have left. At the very least, take him into custody and let me speak to him.” 

Kirk paused. She obviously wasn’t the only one who asked him not to kill Khan, but she apparently was the one to push him over and he made a decision. “I’ll only use the torpedoes if I have to. If he surrenders the first time we ask, he’ll be fine.” 

Buffy inhaled deeply to keep herself from cheering. “Thank you, Captain.” 

“I’ll even make sure to take you with us when we bring him into custody. He might be more willing that way.” Kirk nodded to himself, satisfied that he had come up with a good solution and averted dealing with a crying woman. “Thank you for your insight. Report back to engineering and start working on the warp interference as soon as we leave Spacedock.” 

Buffy nodded and watched as Kirk pressed a button and the doors closed. She headed back down the way she had come. It was time to begin tampering with those cryotubes. 

~~~ 

Khan looked around his makeshift base, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. This location was picked after many scouting trips, before the transporter was taken away from them the first time, because it was abandoned and ignored by the Empire at the time. He and Buffy had established this hideaway in a remote area of the ruins that had a higher level of radiation. It was lethal to Klingons, and their research showed that humans could barely tolerate it. It made it the perfect place to have a hidden base, since Buffy and Khan’s enhanced genetics could withstand the radiation, as long as they didn’t stay more than fifty years. Neither of them were planning a long term stay on the planet, so that wasn’t a problem. 

Recently the Klingons had resumed patrols of the area, and any ship coming after him would be seen and targeted as an enemy. He needed to be prepared when Kirk brought the landing party. If Kirk wasn’t careful, he’d bring the patrol with him, even if he used the transporter.  
Khan grabbed several small guns and strapped them to his body. Picking up two that were to big to conceal, Khan began patrols of his own. It didn’t hurt to be careful. 

~~~ 

Buffy ordered the torpedoes put in the nearest cargo bay to Engineering so she could know which she worked on and which she still needed to work on. When she went back into the main engineering room to make sure she had all of them, a young man with a Russian accent walked up to her. “My name is Chekov, and I am acting Chief Engineer. You are Ms. Elizabeth Harrison. Please put this on to mark you as authorized Engineering staff during your time aboard the _Enterprise_.” The man held out a red top. It was too long to be a shirt, yet too short to be considered a dress. “Your black pants are fine. Just put this on over your top.” 

“Yes, sir.” Buffy pulled the red thing on and pulled it smooth. 

“Where are the torpedoes?” Chekov asked. 

“In the nearest cargo bay. I thought it would be easier to keep track of the ones I’d tampered with, and I’d be out of the way. The distance might slow down any interference as well.” 

The man, though he didn’t look old enough to shave, nodded. “Keep me informed. We have a weapons expert on board who may be assigned to help you, Carol Wallace.” 

“Tall, blonde hair, science officer?” Buffy asked. Chekov nodded. “Thanks for the heads up.” 

“No problem. You should get started.” 

Buffy nodded again and quickly left the room. It was a gamble, but she’d bet that the admiral didn’t know his daughter was on board. It might be useful to keep Carol close, especially since Buffy didn’t know how much Carol knew. 

~~~ 

Fifteen minutes after the _Enterprise_ had jumped to warp, Kirk came on the ship-wide intercom and explained their orders. “This is Captain James T. Kirk. We’re undergoing a dangerous mission into hostile territory. The fugitive, John Harrison, has taken refuge in an abandoned sector of Qu’noS, the Klingon home world. Our orders are to bring him into custody and take him back to Earth for trial. I will transport down to Qu’noS with Lieutenant Uhura, Commander Spock, and the other Commander Harrison to bring him in. If he refuses to come quietly, we will use our new weaponry to blow him apart. Kirk out.” 

~~~ 

Khan darted behind an outcrop of rock, and slowly peered over his hiding place. A patrol was flying overhead, but didn’t land. He took that as a good sign and pulled out an MRE. He munched on his chicken when his wrist beeped. It was Buffy. The _Enterprise_ en route with all torpedoes. _About to start recon on missiles. I miss you, love._

Step two lead nicely to step three. Now, the rest of the plan should fall into place nicely, assuming Marcus stayed predictable. 

~~~ 

Buffy didn’t waste any time. She stretched her arms and prepared to open each missile and examine the vitals of the person inside before looking for the sabotage that Section 31 did. The first torpedo she opened had Willow. 

Buffy’s eyes filled with unshed tears as she gazed into the face of her best friend. She had been among the last to be frozen and was supposed to be among the first to awaken if the Botany Bay was boarded. The systems had malfunctioned due to age and she and Khan had been revived alone. 

Willow didn’t look like she had aged a day. Just like Buffy, she was bound to the Slayer Line, to live for as long as the last Potential turned Slayer drew breath. She was frozen in time. But the war hadn’t been kind to Willow or Buffy, aging them mentally, if not physically. The governments of Earth were as afraid of her as they were of Buffy, if not more so. Willow had more power in her left hand than anyone on Earth could understand. If anyone was to be awoken next, it was her. 

Buffy forced herself to look away from Willow and focus on the readout of her friend’s vital signs. The cryotube was still functioning correctly and Willow was still at least as healthy as she was the day she was put in. Buffy pushed a few buttons and brought up the systems log for the tube. The entry at the top made her furious. 

Section 31 had rigged the torpedo to arm itself if anyone tried to examine the warhead. It was the live warheads that had needed the extra shielding from the _Enterprise_ ’s sensors and what was interfering with the warp core. Buffy quickly shut off the command and replaced it with one of her own. Willow would wake up the next time someone tampered with the torpedo and didn’t have the right access code. 

If Khan convinced Kirk to open a tube, Buffy would make sure it would be this one. “You’ll be awake soon, Will, and so will the rest of you,” she whispered. Buffy closed the missile casing carefully and moved on to the next missile. 

~~~ 

Five hours later, Buffy had found fourteen of her people, including Faith, Giles, Dawn, Vi, and Rhona, and sixteen of Khan’s people, including his second in command, Otto, Reese, Kati, Jackson, and their daughter, Karen. She followed the same procedure on each of their cryotubdes, shutting down the warhead and rigging the tube to waken their occupants when they were tampered with next. 

Along with the command to wake them up when the tube was tampered with, she added a secondary trigger that would wake them up when she pressed a transmitter hidden in her necklace, where her communicator to Khan was. The pendant was in the shape of a ankh, one arm had the communicator, and the other now held the transmitter. 

The ship shuddered, bringing Buffy to her knees as she tried to maintain her balance unsuccessfully. When she ship stopped moving Buffy jumped to her feet and ran out the door and down the corridor to Engineering. 

The main control room was in chaos when she arrived. People were scurrying around like chickens with their heads cut off. Buffy snagged a fraying Chekov as he ran past. “What happened?” 

Her question was asked at the same time Kirk’s voice issued from the comm in the man’s hand. “Captain, we’ve got a coolant leak. I had to shut down the warp core manually. Mr. Scott was right. Something is interfering with the core. We have to find the leak before we can start the warp engines.” 

Buffy and Chekov could hear Kirk talking to someone else on the bridge. “How far are we away from Qu’noS?” 

“About twenty minutes,” was the reply. “But that’s twenty minutes we didn’t expect to need. The longer we’re here, stranded, the longer the Klingons have to find us.” 

“Chekov, work on getting those engines fixed. Send Harrison to the shuttle bay. Kirk out.” 

Chekov looked at her. “Go to the shuttle bay,” he said. 

“On my way,” Buffy said at the same time. She turned her back and headed back to her quarters. She wasn’t going to go dressed as an engineer. She wanted her own clothes back on, and this was the perfect opportunity, at least until she returned to the ship. When Khan filled Kirk in on what was truly happening, she hoped she wouldn’t be thrown in the brig with him. 

~~~ 

Chapter 3 

Buffy arrived at the shuttle bay ten minutes after the others. “What took you so long?” Kirk demanded as Buffy ran up the boarding ramp and into the shuttle. 

“I changed my clothes. There was no way I was going down there with a Starfleet insignia on my chest. The Klingons would kill me on sight. That and I got a little turned around.” 

Kirk nodded, accepting her reasoning and pointed to a chair in the cargo hold. “You sit thereWhen our security personnel are changed, we’re off.” Buffy glanced at two burly men who were muttering to themselves as they put on clothes that made them look like traders. Her own outfit made her look like a small fighting machine in comparison to what everyone else was wearing. 

Her pants were made of Klingon leather she had bought on the black market. The shoes were Starfleet regulation, but made from genuine leather, which was not. Her shirt was one of her own creation with Kevlar threads interwoven with the cotton. It was something from her days in the Eugenics War. The Kevlar kept bullets out of her and Willow’s protection spells kept out almost everything else. Her jacket had plenty of room for many of her smaller weapons and tricks. She carried several knives of various sizes, lock picks, both traditional and modern, small explosives, and a few of the anti-Klingon gadgets that she had developed for Section 31. 

When the two security goons of Kirk’s came on board, Buffy pulled on her long duster made of Klingon leather, and pulled up the hood so her face was in shadow. She stood tall, behind Kirk as he piloted the small ship out of the _Enterprise_ ’s hanger bay. Grim determination was in her face if anyone bothered to look at her. She and Khan were so close, she could taste it. 

“Twenty minutes to Qu’noS, Captain,” Spock said from his copilot’s station. 

Uhura ignored Spock and spoke to Kirk as well. “Sulu has sent the message to Harrison. If he has a communicator, he’ll receive it.” 

Fifteen minutes went by in complete silence as the tension in the cockpit continued to grow frosty. “Is there something going on that I should be aware of?” Buffy asked. “There’s too much ice in this ship and if you want this mission to be a success, then it needs to warm up right now. You don’t have the luxury to be angry at each other.” 

“There is nothing I am aware of,” Spock said, but was interrupted by Uhura. 

“You don’t remember almost committing suicide two weeks ago with that volcano? You went down there, refusing to come back up when you knew your life was in danger. You didn’t care that there were people who don’t want you to die. You’re life isn’t expendable, and you treated it as if it was!” 

“Guys, do we have to do this now?” Kirk asked. 

Uhura didn’t appear to hear him. “I’m no the only one that’s angry with you! Kirk is too!” 

“Hey, don’t pull me into this!” Kirk said. He thought about it for a moment. “She’s right you know,” he added softly to Spock. 

“That isn’t helping,” Buffy said. “Get everything out, or I’ll lock the three of you in here and go after John myself. 

Spock began talking and Buffy tuned him out as she sat down. She pulled out her necklace out from under her shirt and quietly sent Khan a heads up. Kirk was coming, and she was with him. 

There was a sudden silence in the cockpit and Buffy returned her attention to the three fighting senior officers. They had stopped arguing and the tension had lessened. Their issues had been worked out enough to function during the mission, good. 

Buffy’s spine stiffened. There was another ship in the area, she could feel it. Klingons had come back, or the ship they were in was suspicious to them. “We’re in trouble, Captain. We’ve got incoming.” 

Spock’s tactical station beeped. “She is correct, Captain. A Klingon patrol ship has spotted us and is in pursuit.” 

“Damn. This vessel has no offensive capabilities. I need access to all six fuel cells!” 

Spock pressed some buttons on his station. “Granted.” 

“Give me access to the schematics!” Buffy said. “I can work something out, but I need to know what I have to work with!” 

“We don’t have time. We need to outrun it without getting too far off course. Spock, keep me on course.” 

Buffy clenched her jaw and sat back, trying to enjoy the ride. In all her time out of her cryotube, she had never gotten accustomed to small space ships. She preferred their bigger cousins, the starships, to the zippy smaller ones. Kirk was an amazing pilot, and doing his best to get rid of the Klingons, by yanking the small ship this way and that, but it didn’t deter them from the chase. 

“What about that right there?” Buffy heard Kirk say from the front. She leaned forward to see what he was talking about and shuddered. In front of them were two tall ruins, more than likely from skyscrapers. They were propped against each other and the gap Kirk must have been talking about was less than twelve feet wide. Buffy was sure that Kirk was now clinically insane. 

“It is too narrow, we will not fit,” Spock answered calmly, only looking up briefly to see what Kirk was talking about. 

“It’s our best shot. We will fit!” Kirk was determined to make his words true. “Hold on!” 

Kirk turned the ship on its side and flew into the gap. The ship was alright for the first few seconds, but they had gone fewer than a handful of yards before the sides of the ship were scraping against the sides of the ruined buildings. Kirk screamed in triumph, keeping the ship on course, while the rest of the occupants screamed in terror.  
The whole trip couldn’t have lasted more than five minutes, but it were some of the most terrifying minutes since she awoke. The ship spat out of the gap and Kirk corrected the ship so the ground was now where it was supposed to be. Everyone in the shuttle was breathing heavily, except Spock. “Told you we’d fit,” Kirk said between breaths. 

Spock flicked a switch on his tactical station. “I’m not sure that qualifies.” Buffy couldn’t help it. The deadpan way Spock had said that caused her to laugh. Kirk’s reaction to Spock was a glare, but even he could see the humor in the situation and Kirk cracked a smile. 

“Think we lost them?” 

“No,” Buffy said after she calmed her laughter down. 

“I would have to concur with Commander Harrison,” Spock said, and he nodded out of the window. 

Kirk looked out and groaned. The one ship chasing them had called in backup. Now there were four total ships, all with weapons pointed at them. “Sir, they’re asking us to land.” 

“Options, anyone?” Kirk spun around in his chair, looking at the whole room. 

Uhrua got out of her chair and walked over to Kirk. “Sir, we’re out numbered and out gunned. If they get their hands on us, we’ll be tortured, questioned, and killed. You took me on this mission because I speak Klingon. Let me speak Klingon.” 

“What happens if that doesn’t work?” Buffy said softly. 

“Then we go out with guns blazing. Our main goal is Harrison, but if we can take out a few Klingons, the more the merrier!” Kirk’s sentiment didn’t appeared to be shared with most of the others in the shuttle. 

Uhura squared her shoulders and took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly to calm herself. “Land the ship and let me talk to them,” she said again. 

Kirk nodded. “Okay.” Kirk pressed a few buttons and the ship slowly began heading to the ground. A few minutes later, the shuttle was on the ground and Kirk had lowered the landing ramp. Uhura squared her shoulders again in determination and took another steadying breath. 

“Good luck,” Buffy said. Uhura nodded at her in thanks and exited the ship. Buffy got up and followed her as far as the end of the ramp. When she stepped foot on the planet, she halted and stood guard. Klingons would never believe one person was on the shuttle, but if they thought her companion was another woman, they were more likely to get away clean. 

“What are you doing?” Kirk hissed. 

“I know more about Klingons than you do, Captain. Trust me.” 

Uhura reached the Klingons in a matter of minutes. One woman confronting at least a dozen Klingon warriors. “She’s going to get herself killed,” Kirk said. 

“That’s why I’m here. They would never believe that she’s alone. I show that she’s not and they’ll focus on her and not on the ship. If something happens, I’ll be ready.” 

“If we interrupt them now, not only will you incite the wrath of the Klingons, you will incite the wrath of Lieutenant Uhura,” Spock added. 

Kirk didn’t reply to that, choosing instead to crouch at the top of the ramp of the ship as out of sight as he could manage. Spock and the two security men crouched next to him and they and Buffy watched Uhura. 

The headstrong communications officer made it all the way to the Klingons before one of them took off his face mask. They were too far away for Buffy to make out what they were saying, even if she did understand Klingon, but she was able to read their body language. They weren’t buying any excuse that Uhura provided. “He doesn’t believe her, or he doesn’t care,” she said. 

“How can you tell?” Kirk said. 

“The set of Uhura’s shoulders. She wouldn’t look so desperate if she was getting through to him. He’ll make his move soon. Be prepared.” 

Kirk didn’t reply, but Buffy could hear him getting phasors out and handing them around. He had excellent timing. No sooner did he give out the last phasor, the Klingon Uhura was talking to grabbed her throat with one and reached for a gun with the other. A red phasor blast shot over their heads and landed at the foot of the Klingon patrol. 

Buffy ran forward as Kirk and the others started shooting as they left the safety of the shuttle. Buffy knew who had fired the blast. Khan had found her and she couldn’t be more happy. She missed him fiercely. But he had now given her one of the best gifts she had received since she had woken up, a real fight. 

Within minutes she was attacking the lead Klingon with everything she had. She threw a punch at his head and stomach. Uhura had run back to Kirk and gotten her own phasor and joined the fight. Buffy caught the Klingon’s arm and forcibly took the bat’leth from him, turning the weapon him. Finding a weak spot in his armor, she thrust one end of the bat’leth into his flesh and yanked upward. She was showered in purple blood as the Klingon’s innards squirted out at her. 

There was a scream from behind her and Buffy turned. Khan was battling several on his own, shooting the ones that he could and physically attacking those that came in too close. She ran to his side, slitting the throats of Klingons who got in her way. 

“Hello, love,” he said as he spun around and shot his phase cannon at a patrol of Klingons who were paratrooping in. 

“Just like old times, huh?” she said, laughter in her voice as she took up position at his back, and pulled a knife out of her boot. She threw it into the eye of an approaching Klingon. 

“Quite. Was Kirk’s message true? Does he have the torpedoes?” He shot another approaching Klingon. 

Buffy punched one and ducked as another swung his battle axe over her head. “Yep. I’ve been working on them. All we’ve got to do is hope Kirk sticks to his decision not to kill you on sight. If he does, Marcus will bring the ship to us.” 

Khan swung his gun around, hitting a Klingon who was trying to catch him unaware as Buffy took out his friends. “Kirk has a conscience. He’ll stick to his word, and we might even gain an ally.” After the Klingon was down Khan aimed at the retreating ships, hitting them with two blasts each as Buffy danced around him, making sure that none of the attacks around him were successful. 

The ships exploded in a shower of sparks as Buffy threw knives into the hearts of the last three Klingons alive. 

“You got him!” Kirk said, rushing up to her. He turned his attention to Khan. “Are you surrendering Harrison?” 

“You have 144 missiles aimed at me. Yes, I surrender.” 

“Captain, permission to escort my husband to the shuttle?” Buffy said. 

“He’s your responsibility until we get back to the _Enterprise_. Take good care of him, Commander.” Kirk held out handcuffs. Khan sneered at them but didn’t object when Kirk put them on him. 

Buffy nodded and took Khan’s shoulder, pulling slightly to get him moving. “Let’s go.” She started toward the shuttle, leaving the members of the _Enterprise_ trailing behind them. “What are you planning?” she asked softly. 

“I’m going to tell them the truth.” Khan’s voice was as quiet as hers. 

“If you leave me out of it, I can keep working to wake up our people. If we take the _Vengeance_ with everyone, we stand a better chance of getting out of any confrontation alive. I can’t continue to work on the missiles if you tell them I’m your contemporary.” 

“If Marcus catches up to us before you’re ready then we’ll have no choice.” 

“If I wake up Willow and Otto when we get back, I can teach them how to rig the missiles properly. When you get onto the _Vengeance_ and transport us out, we can finally be free.” 

“We’re almost there,” Khan agreed. 

The rest of the trip was quiet. Buffy settled Khan into the seat next to her and Kirk piloted the shuttle back to the _Enterprise_ without incident. 

~~~ 

Kirk pulled Buffy aside as the away team exited the shuttle when they arrived back on the _Enterprise __. “What the hell was that, back there?”_

“I don’t understand,” Buffy said. Had Kirk seen something he shouldn’t? Did she give herself away when she let loose while fighting the Klingons?” 

“You were fighting like John was, with more power and poise than anyone I’ve ever seen!” 

“Who do you think was John’s training partner?” Buffy said, crossing her arms. “He needed someone to practice with.” 

Kirk seemed to accept that excuse, but Buffy could see some hesitation in his eyes. The sooner she woke up Willow and Otto to continue preparing the others, the better. Kirk wouldn’t let a display of power like hers and Khan’s go without investigating, and she knew what he would find. “I’m sorry about your husband,” Kirk said quietly. He then promptly eyed her up and down. “If you’re looking for a replacement…” 

Buffy snorted. “You can’t handle me,” she said, giving Kirk a once over in return. “I’d break you in a heartbeat.” Before Kirk could reply, Buffy turned on her heel and walked out of the shuttle bay. 

“She’s not kidding.” Khan glared at Kirk, sizing him up at the same time. 

“Shut up,” Kirk huffed. “Take him to the brig.” Two men in red shirts moved forward, grabbed Khan’s arms, and escorted him out of the room. 

~~~ 

Buffy didn’t hesitate when she got to her cargo bay. Willow and Otto’s tubes were closest to the door, so she didn’t need to waste time finding them. She pulled open the casing quickly, leaving both occupants free from the waist up, and punched in the activation code to restore her friends to wakefulness. Willow was first one she activated, Otto second, but it was Otto who showed the first signs of waking. 

His eyes fluttered for a few seconds before opening. Big brown eyes looked up at Buffy as she gently smiled down at him. “Where are we? Are we safe?” 

Willow’s eyes flew open and she attempted to sit. “Take it easy, Will,” Buffy said softly, helping the other woman to sit up. Willow looked pretty good for having just been unfrozen. Her green eyes were slowly returning to their usual brightness and cheer. 

Otto, a tall black man with deep brown eyes, slowly sat up as well. He reminded Buffy physically of the now ancient actor Michael Clarke Duncan. His voice was deep and his body was a mountain of pure muscle. He was brilliantly smart, specializing in guerrilla warfare, which made him perfect for this particular mission. 

“You are on board the _USS Enterprise_ and we’re about 300 years away from home,” Buffy said as Otto and Willow continued to gain their bearings and their minds caught up with their bodies. “As for being safe,” Buffy shrugged and thought about their situation. “Safe is relative. We’re as good as we’re going to be, and we’re running out of time.” 

“Where is Khan?” Otto said, glancing around the room. 

“It’s a long story, one I can’t go into a great amount of detail. He’s on board, as a prisoner.” Otto looked alarmed before smoothing out his expression. Willow didn’t look too surprised. “We’re planning to steal a ship, but we need everyone awake and functioning to do that.” 

“What do you need us to do?” Willow said. 

“You and Otto are going to start to wake everyone up. Here’s the catch. Khan has to tell the captain that there are people in these missiles. I need you to either magic an imagined person in, or take a member of the crew and put them in. If you put a real crew member in, switch clothes with them. I’ve noticed on my brief time aboard that the ship doesn’t seem to be keen on those in red, except the chief engineer, Mr. Chekov.” Buffy ushered the two to the next tube. 

“What are you going to be doing?” Otto said. 

“I may have inadvertently exposed my abilities,” Buffy admitted, “in a battle with Khan.” 

“You two fighting again?” Willow’s smile was as welcome as sunshine. 

“We were fighting on the same side,” Buffy clarified. “Klingons are nasty aliens.” 

“Aliens?” Willow and Otto repeated. Both looked skeptical. 

“Yes. Now pay attention. We haven’t a lot time. This is what you have to do to revive the rest.” Buffy opened the tube and showed them what to do. “You need to put in the code and then they will get the reactivation signal.” 

“What’s the code?” Willow asked 

“05-20-2003,” Buffy said as she typed it in. “The date everything began.” 

~~~ 

Khan stood, waiting passively as Kirk and his crew scurried about. He had been shoved mercilessly into the brig and ignored for the better part of an hour as Kirk and the _Enterprise_ began to get underway. It was then that he felt it. A power he hadn’t felt in 300 years caressed him as it woke from its long sleep. Willow Rosenberg was awake. He understood now why Buffy hadn’t given him a second look when they got on board the _Enterprise_ , other than Kirk’s pathetic come on. She was getting ready for Marcus in the only way she knew how, gathering her army and preparing to strike. 

No one was currently at the security desk that supervised those in the brig, so Khan flipped open his communicator and typed a quick message. A few seconds later he received agreement and he relaxed. Buffy would save one torpedo for Kirk to open, and hide the rest of the crew somewhere safe.  
Khan smirked to himself. His Buffy was something else. 

~~~ 

“How many should be real people and how many should be fakes?” Willow asked, leaning over a young security officer. The woman was Willow’s size, which was the main reason for targeting her. 

“At least half should be real people,” Buffy said. “If we’re lucky, they’ll only be sleeping a few hours, days at the most. Once we’re all on the _Vengeance_ I’ll wake them up. We don’t want Kirk too suspicious too soon.” 

Willow nodded and moved to the other six missiles that were beside her, muttering a long string of words that was archaic even back in their proper time. Magical constructions of their previous occupants were taking their place. 

Buffy looked around the cargo bay with a sense of pride. With Otto and Willow’s efforts, she had awoken about half of her crew. The Slayers gathered around Dawn and Giles, slowly becoming acclimated to their bodies and being awake again. The Augments gathered around Otto and Jackson, doing the same thing. 

“Alright, I want Greg, Anna, Hilton, and Donna over to me!” Three Augments and a Slayer made their way to Buffy. “Here’s your mission,” Buffy said. “I want you to read this,” she held out four PADDs with detailed manuals of the _Enterprise_ on it, “and work on how to pilot it.” 

“We’re taking over this ship?” Anna asked. She was brilliant with languages and her first pick for communications officer. She was also one of the few female augments that had made it to the _Botany Bay_. 

“No, we’ve got another ship in mind, but it will work much the same as this one. We’re not doing anything to the _Enterprise __unless we have to. Kirk just might turn into an ally.”_

All four nodded, taking the PADDS. Buffy took a step over to Dawn, when her necklace chirped. _Leave one for Kirk. He needs to discover the truth. Anderson?_

Buffy sighed, but typed back an acknowledgement. Khan was gambling with the life of one of their own, but it was a risk worth taking. The only question was, who would it be? “Has Anderson been awoken yet?” 

“No,” Willow said, scrunching her face in disgust. “You brought him along?” 

Buffy only shrugged. Anderson was an augment of Khan’s that complained about everything and everyone he disagreed with. He was convinced that only he held the correct answers and rarely did what he was told. He was the least liked augment, and had no real place in any society because of his personality. He knew nothing of what Buffy and Khan were like, having been kept on the periphery. He would offer no tactical advantage if he were turned over to someone like Admiral Marcus, because he was one of the few augments without any skills in a targeted area. 

“He is to remain in his tube. When Kirk’s men come for a tube, leave him with Anderson.” Buffy looked around the cargo bay. Two of her Slayers, Kristie and Joanne, were dressed in the red outfits. “Take his tube to Engineering and leave it there. Tell Chekov that I was having trouble with it.” Buffy looked through another PADD that displayed the orders that staff had been given. “Then report to the brig to guard the prisoner.” The two Slayers nodded. 

“Permission to join them, ma’am,” Joachim, one of Khan’s, asked. 

Buffy turned to face him. He was in the required red. “Granted. Remember, when I give the signal, you have to return here for transport.” 

The three nodded and left the cargo bay, carrying Anderson between them. Buffy turned to Willow. “Focus on bringing those awake up to speed. We can worry about the others when we’re all safe.” 

“Let them sleep?” 

Buffy nodded. “Let them sleep. Sixty is enough to start with. We don’t want to show our hand too quickly, do we?” 

~~~ 

Khan was beginning to get board when two women and a man dressed in red settle in at the guard station. All three looked familiar, then one of the women tossed her head and he remembered. These were two of Buffy’s girls, the two known as the Whirlwind before their sleep. Both girls, sisters, were vicious and swift, and loyal to a fault. Buffy often assigned them to act as body guards to important people. Joachim, the man, was one of his. His levelheadedness had saved both Kristie and Joanna many times before. Seeing them restored calmness in Khan that he hadn’t noticed he had lacked until then. 

He didn’t have time to dwell on it. The doors to the brig opened again and Kirk and Spock walked in, followed by another man in a blue shirt. “This is Dr. McCoy. He’d like to take a blood sample.” 

Khan nodded to Kirk and rolled up his sleeve as McCoy opened a small hole in the forcefield that kept Khan in his prison. McCoy opened it large enough for Khan to stick his arm through, which he did. Khan withdrew his arm when McCoy was done. The doctor walked away, muttering to himself about figuring out Khan, while Kirk and Spock studied him. “I need to speak with you, Kirk,” Khan said, as the captain began to walk away. 

“Don’t listen to him, Captain,” Spock said. “He will only attempt to manipulate you further.” 

Khan suppressed a smirk. “When have I tried to manipulate you before?” 

Kirk held up a hand to stop Spock from replying. He straightened his yellow uniform top and walked up to the force field, keeping Khan in. “You listen closely while I explain what’s happening here. You are a criminal! I watched you kill hundreds of innocent men and women, I was authorized to end you! The only reason you are still breathing is that I am allowing it! Your wife, the woman you manipulated and used, shouldn’t have to see the one she loves die, so shut your mouth!” 

Clearly Kirk didn’t know Buffy, or he would know that she was the one that had done the manipulating, not that Khan was complaining. “Captain, are you going to lower this force field, enter my prison and punch me over and over until your arms weakens? It is clear that you want to, so answer me this, why did you allow me to live?” 

“Everyone makes mistakes.” 

Khan shook his head. “I surrendered to you because, despite your attempts to convince me otherwise, you seem to have a conscience, Mr. Kirk. If you did not, it would be impossible for me to convince you of the truth. Two, three, one, seven, four, six, one, one: coordinates not far from Earth. If you want to know why we did what we did, go take a look.” 

“We?” 

“I am not working alone. Surely you figured that out by now.” 

“Why should I listen to you?” 

Khan smirked. Kirk was listening. “I can give you 144 reasons, and they’re aboard this ship, Captain. They have been all along.” Kirk glared at Khan and Spock stared impassively. “Have you even opened one of your torpedoes, wondered what’s inside? Wondered what made it such a tool against the Klingons? Maybe you should take a look.” 

Kirk and Spock glared at him. Kirk’s anger and dislike was plain to see. Distain was dripping off every word and action Kirk made that involved Khan. Spock was harder to read, but Khan could see subtle signs of adjatation and annoyance. Without a backward look, Kirk and Spock left Khan in the brig. Khan hoped that Kirk remained a man of honor and stayed predictable. If he didn’t, the game would change. 

~~~ 

Buffy received a summons to the bridge shortly after she assigned all of the awoken jobs. “Kirk to Harrison, please report to the bridge.” 

Buffy walked over to the wall and pressed a button. “Harrison to Kirk. On my way.” She let go of the button and glanced over her shoulder to Willow. “Keep everyone safe for me.” 

“I always do.” Buffy nodded to Willow and left. 

The nearest tubolift to the bridge was halfway down the hall, in the middle of the ship. She reached it in a few minutes and pressed a button. The lift arrived after a few minutes and she got in. “Bridge.” There was a soft beeping and the lift moved up. Buffy tried to prepare herself. Either she was being summoned because Kirk wanted some insight on Khan, or she had been exposed. She wasn’t sure which one she wanted it to be. 

~~~ 

Chapter 4 

Kirk looked up as the doors to the tubolift opened and Buffy walked out. Buffy looked the captain over and his weariness reminded her of how she must’ve looked during the Eugenics War. His ship was stranded with a damaged warp core and he was in enemy territory, with no chance of backup or support from Starfleet. He was trying his hardest to keep it together, but it was clear to Buffy that everything was piling up. “Send a message to Starfleet. We’ve got Harrison in custody and are bringing him back for trial.” 

Uhura nodded and turned to her communications station. “You summoned me, sir?” Buffy said, walking forward a step. 

Kirk spun his chair around to face her, a contemplative look on his face. “Harrison admitted to not working alone. Is there anyone you think we should be looking for?” 

Kirk’s stare was pointed, convinced that he already knew the answer. Kirk was suspicious of her. Buffy cleared her throat. “Admiral Marcus and John were close.” 

Kirk’s surprise was evident by the way his eyes widened. “How close?” 

“The admiral kept a close eye on John. He popped in every few weeks for dinner and talked about missions.” Every word was true, Buffy knew, but she was slanting it so it looked like Marcus was in on Khan’s plans. Kirk would be corrected when Marcus came to kill Khan, which he would as soon as he heard Kirk’s message. Kirk suspecting Marcus would stop him from suspecting her for the time being. 

Kirk nodded, accepting her story. “Harrison hinted that we should open one of the torpedoes.” Buffy had expected that. “We are moving at maximum impulse to a nearby planet where we can do so. “I want you to join Dr. McCoy and Dr. Marcus, who will be opening the missile. They are your design and if there are any problems, you are more equipped to handle them.” Kirk gestured to two people, a man and woman both dressed in blue. 

“Dr. Marcus?” she asked. “Any relation to the admiral?” 

“His daughter,” Dr. Marcus said in a British accent that reminded her very slightly of Khan’s rich accent. Kirk had handed her better leverage. 

“Alright. When do we go?” 

“Are you ready to go now?” McCoy said. Buffy nodded. “Then right now.” 

~~~ 

Fifteen minutes later, the three of them put the missile on the ground. “When I imagined myself alone on a deserted planet with beautiful women there’s usually no missile involved,” McCoy grumbled. Buffy smiled to herself. He reminded her of Xander. Both men would grumble and complain about things, but both were unflinchingly loyal and steadfast. 

“The first thing we need to do is take off the casing. Then we can get to the warhead and disarm it,” Buffy said. 

“That’s not how traditional weapons are built,” Dr. Marcus said. 

“I’m anything but traditional. When I was younger I celebrated my birthday by defending myself against those who were trying to kill me for one reason or another. Tradition is nothing but an excuse to follow the herd. Be adventurous, Doctor.” Buffy carefully slid her screwdriver under the top panel and pulled, lifting it up. “Dr. McCoy, do you see anything happening under there?” Buffy asked. 

McCoy carefully got closer to the missile and looked under the casing. “You’re not going to hit any traps. It looks like you’re free.” 

Buffy, with Dr. Marcus’s help, slowly pulled up the casing and set it to the side. “There should be a bunch of wire twisted together on your side, Dr. Marcus. If you pull it out, the warhead will disarm.” Carol located the wires and pulled. There were two beeps, one low pitched followed by one of higher pitch and the detonator went offline. Both doctors were about to exhale in relief when a panel beneath the detonator opened, revealing a body, Anderson’s body. 

“Is that what I think it is?” McCoy asked. 

“Who is that?” Dr. Marcus said at the same time. 

Both doctors looked at Buffy in accusation. “I didn’t put him there!” She wasn’t sure if they believed her. 

~~~ 

They went back to the ship quietly, Buffy still wary of what the doctors would do when they returned to the _Enterprise_ , specifically if they would accuse her of knowing that there were people in the torpedoes. She needed to have a plan if Kirk accused her of working with Khan if she wanted to continue to work unencumbered. It wasn’t necessary, but she was the only one, between her and Khan, who was free and could help Willow and Otto to do what she wanted them to do. Buffy hadn’t explained the entire plan to her lieutenants, but now it was on her list of things to do when she got back. Freedom was too close to loose it to a minor mistake. 

“Well, what did you find?” Kirk asked as McCoy and the younger Marcus exited the shuttle. Buffy followed, avoiding Kirk’s gaze. 

“A body,” McCoy said. “The torpedo had a cryotube with a body inside.” 

“How old?” 

“It’s impossible to tell without a full medical workup,” Dr. Marcus said, “but if we’re going to judge age by the equipment, I’d say at least 200, possibly as late as 400 years.” 

Kirk turned to Buffy, who did her best to ignore his gaze. “How did a body get hidden in the tubes? You designed them, you put them there.” 

“I wasn’t the only one with access to the torpedoes,” Buffy reminded Kirk. 

“John Harrison,” Kirk said, sighing the name with frustration. “This all comes back to him.” 

“Let me come with you when you talk to John,” Buffy said. “I want to know what’s going on.” 

Kirk nodded. “Let’s go then. Spock! You too.” 

~~~ 

Khan’s head jerked up when he heard the door to the brig open. He got to his feet when he saw who was visiting. Kirk was striding up to him with rage in his face and anger on his lips, Spock and Buffy flanking him. “Why was there a man in that torpedo?” 

“There are men and women in all of them. We put them there,” Khan said. His voice remained calm and level, never varying. The two slayers and one augment were still in the room, and now their attention had been grabbed. All three were paying close attention to Kirk’s conversation with Khan, with a clear understanding of what was going on. If Kirk accepted their story, there would be no need to do anything to the _Enterprise_ or any of her crew that weren’t in the sleeper tubes. If Kirk reacted negatively, every one of the awoken had their orders. 

“Who the hell are you? I want straight answers, no more run around,” Kirk said. 

Khan laughed softly, but the tone of his voice didn’t change. “A remnant of the long past. Genetically engineered to be superior so as to lead others to peace in times of war. But we were condemned to live as criminals, forced into exile. For centuries we slept, hoping that when we awoke, things would be different. We thought wrong. About five years before Vulcan was destroyed, Admiral Marcus started becoming obsessed with militarizing Starfleet, building an empire. He found my ship while looking for resources. I was revived, along with one other, due to failing life support that has since been repaired.” 

“I looked up John and Elizabeth Harrison,” Kirk said. He walked around Buffy, putting himself between her and the door. “Neither of you existed until eight years ago.” 

“John and Elizabeth Harrison were modern identities that Admiral Marcus created the moment we woke up,” Buffy said, “a smokescreen to conceal our true identities.” 

“My name is… Khan.” 

“My name is Buffy Summers. Together we represent the true victims of the Eugenics War.” 

“True victims? Really? I learned about those wars in school. Genetically modified supermen tried to take over the world,” Kirk said. 

“Have you heard the adage, ‘History’s written by the winners’, Kirk?” Khan asked. “No one bothers telling the loser’s story because they are discredited by the winners.” 

“Fine. Tell me your story.” 

Buffy smiled. “It begins with one question: Are you ready to be strong? That was the question I asked a group of girls as we entered what could have possibly been our last battle. An evil greater than any anyone has ever faced before or since was destroying the only people who could defeat it. I was one of the only people who had a chance to stop it, so I changed the rules.” 

“I don’t understand.” Kirk shook his head in confusion. 

“Slayers, Mr. Kirk,” Khan said, and the way his British drawl made the word sound drew a shiver down Buffy’s spine. “Earth’s natural defense system against all things evil, all things supernatural.” 

“There’s no such thing as the supernatural,” Kirk said. 

Buffy nodded her head once in acknowledgment. “Not anymore. The Eugenics War and World War III convinced most of them to find another dimension to terrorize. The few that stayed got slaughtered, but we’re not talking about them right now. When my team Called every possible Slayer, turning them into Slayers, every girl who had the potential to become a Slayer became one. Before, it was one girl at a time, and she could only quit when she was killed.” 

“I’m finding this hard to believe.” 

Buffy shrugged. She was never good with telling the origin story, but it was a part of history that was near to her heart. She ignored Kirk’s comment and continued. “After the Potentials were called, my team took over as the leaders and guides of the Slayers and slowly approached each country for permission to train and control their Slayers. The US and Great Britain complied immediately, having encountered Slayers before and knowing what they could do. China, Japan, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Iraq and India, on the other hand, wanted to control their Slayers and didn’t appreciate us coming in and taking their Slayers to England or America to train. They started researching their own ways to make Slayers, or as close as they could get. The Augments were the result.” 

Buffy glanced at Khan and nodded at him to continue. “I was one of the first successful attempts. I survived everything they did to me and my final test was to hunt and kill a Slayer. My target was the Queen of the Slayers herself. Instead of killing her, I joined with her. That’s what it took to get a target on my back. I changed sides. By then, other Augments were being ruthlessly killed because they refused to attack others without cause. I gathered my brothers and sisters and we joined the Slayers in trying to create a world where those who were different could live in peace. It didn’t work out the way we wanted it to.” 

Kirk snorted to himself. That much was obvious. “How are you different from normal people?” 

“Slayers are stronger, faster, more agile, faster healers, and smarter than your average human, have a built-in sense of weapons and battle tactics, and are always female,” Buffy said. “That was one of the things that was changed for the Augments, most of them were male in hopes that they would be enticed to have children together. Only one couple decided to do that.” 

“In short, we are better,” Khan said, a smirk on his face. 

Kirk shook his head. “There’s one thing I still don’t understand. Why did you kill all those people in London, and again in San Francisco?” 

“You think of your crew as your family, do you not? Our ship, the _Botany Bay_ held all of our family. Admiral Marcus held them as collateral, promising to let them live, unfrozen, as long as we did as he commanded. We helped him realize his dream of a militarized Starfleet, just not in time to fight against Vulcan’s destroyers. He punished us by making us think that he killed our entire fleet when he discovered us trying to smuggle them out using the torpedoes that are now on your ship. If he had killed your family, wouldn’t you try to avenge them?” Khan’s voice was filled with barely controlled rage. Buffy called his name and Khan calmed down, remembering that he was in the presence of four crew members and more were down below, safe and sound. 

“It is illogical for Admiral Marcus to have acted like you have suggested. Why would he have violated every regulation he vowed to uphold?” 

Buffy laughed dryly. “He likes to fight dirty, Mr. Spock. The Admiral sent you into Klingon space to shoot experimental weapons at an enemy planet, and rigged those same weapons to disable your ship, leaving you stranded in enemy space with no chance of backup, except for him. If the Klingons find you first, then Marcus will have the war he’s been preparing for for the last ten years.” 

Kirk and Spock looked from Khan to Buffy. Kirk looked convinced, but Spock looked nonplussed. Kirk turned to Kristie, Joachim and Joanne. “Escort them to the Medbay for a full physical.” 

“Yes, sir.” Kristie took Buffy’s arm and Joanne took Khan’s after Kirk lowered the forcefield. As they were leaving, Buffy heard Kirk get a call from the bridge and caught the words “ship” and “not Klingon”. The _Vengeance_ had arrived. 

~~~ 

“How are things going?” Buffy asked as soon as the five of them were alone. 

“Willow checked in right before you returned to the ship,” Kristie said. “Things are going well and are nearing completion. They await your signal.” 

Buffy nodded her head. “Good. We’re almost ready. Our ship has arrived, now we just have to get on it and take it over.” 

“We’ve got Kirk hooked. He values what Starfleet stands for, and Marcus has overstepped his bounds. Once he talks to Marcus, Kirk will be firmly on our side,” Khan said. 

“Assuming that he doesn’t second guess our motives,” Buffy said. “Make sure that Willow has someone who can operate shields and weapons. If we can’t get them to lower their shields, we’ll have to do it.” 

Two more security personnel arrived and the five of them became silent. A few minutes later they entered Sickbay and Khan met McCoy for the first time. “Hop on the bed,” McCoy said, throwing a PADD on a nearby sickbed and pointing to the bed in front of him. “Buffy, you’re on the other. I’ll do Khan first.” 

Khan and Buffy sat opposite each other and their security detail stood around them. McCoy had just begun his examination of Buffy when Kirk’s voice sounded over the ship-wide intercom. “Hello, Admiral Marcus, you got our message?” 

“I did,” Marcus replied, “and I’m a little confused. Why didn’t you kill Harrison instead of capture him?” 

“He should be able to stand trial for his crimes. I had a personal issue with killing him in cold blood, even if he didn’t. I also had other things to worry about. Our warp drive is being interfered with and our resources are working on solving that problem before we tackle Harrison.” Kirk paused for a minute. “I know who he is. I know what you’re trying to do. It’s not right.” 

Marcus sighed. “You spoke to him. Did he tell you the whole story? About how he and Summers are responsible for the brutal killing of millions of people before they ran away? They’re both war criminals. You need to kill Khan and Summers right away. If you won’t do it, then I will.” 

“I’m sorry. I stand by what I said before. I’m not killing either Khan or Summers in cold blood.” Kirk’s voice had no regrets, however. 

“Then you’ll hand them over to me and I’ll kill them!” 

Kirk paused, apparently thinking it over. “They’re in Engineering.” 

“Thank you, Kirk. You made the right choice.” 

The ship-wide intercom went silent. Buffy glanced at Khan. His smile was predatory. Kirk hadn’t complied with his commanding officer, lied to him, in fact. It was a promising sign Kirk had believed them at least a little. 

McCoy had finished his examination of Buffy when Kirk ran into Sickbay. “You’re mistaken if you think warp can save you,” Khan said in lieu of a greeting. “He’ll catch up, and he’ll be angry.” 

“What can you tell me about that ship?” Kirk demanded, ignoring Khan. 

It was Buffy that answered. “Marcus is captaining the _USS Vengeance_. She’s dreadnought-class, twice as big, three times as fast and armed with every weapon the Federation has access to. She’s the Slayer of starships, designed to run on less than a skeleton crew.” 

“Which of you designed it?” 

“We both did,” Buffy said. 

“Alright then. Which of you will help be board her and take Admiral Marcus into custody?” 

Khan’s vicious grin made Kirk shudder. “I will.” 

“Good.” Kirk turned to the security detail. “Put Summers in the brig and stand guard. Make sure no one harms her, or it’s your heads.” 

Kristie, Joanne, Joachim, and the two Starfleet officers nodded. The two Slayers grabbed Buffy’s elbows and escorted her out of the room. Kirk turned to Khan. “You’re coming with me. We need to board that ship.” As soon as Kirk stopped speaking, the entire ship shook. “Report!” 

“We were fired upon, Captain,” came the response from the bridge. “Our engines are out, and we’re stuck between Earth and the moon.” 

Kirk glared at Khan. “Is there anything else about Marcus’s ship I should know about?” 

“The admiral won’t give up until he has us and your crew is dead. He wants no witnesses who aren’t loyal to him to survive.” 

The ship shook again with the impact of another phasor strike. Kirk ran out of Sickbay. 

~~~ 

Faith looked up from what she was pretending to do as the door to the torbolift opened and the captain came onto the bridge. It was a pity that Kirk was just going to be used as a way to gain their freedom. He was twice as impressive in person than his picture suggested and she wouldn’t mind taking him for a spin. If ship wide gossip was to be believed, he would more than be up for it. “Report!” Kirk demanded. 

The Asian manning the tactical station started speaking. “Captain, we’ve lost all engines. We have hull breaches on decks 5-16, though forcefields are holding. Transporters are down and the shuttle bays are inaccessible. We barely have shields. Things don’t look good.” 

“Mr. Sulu, we must have something.” 

“Let me talk to him!” A blonde woman in a blue jumpsuit rushed up to Kirk. “He’s my father. At the very least he owes me an explanation. Maybe he’ll be less likely to fire if he knows I’m on board.” 

“Carol, are you sure you want to do this?” Kirk asked. 

“I have to protect my family.” 

Kirk smiled. “Hail the other ship.” 

A woman in red nodded and turned to her station, pressing a few buttons. Faith kept an eye on what the woman in red was doing. Willow had sent her up here to see how the comm system worked and Faith didn’t want to miss it. 

“Captain,” the now hated Admiral Marcus said when his face came onto the view screen. “Are you ready to give up Khan and Summers? Or are you going rogue and joining with them? You sounded pretty convinced by their story.” 

“Father, is any of this true? Did you blackmail two people into helping you prepare for a war?” Carol Marcus said. 

Admiral Marcus suddenly focused on Carol, as if he hadn’t noticed her until then. “What are you doing on board the _Enterprise?”_

“I’m standing with my family.” Carol looked closely at her father’s face. It showed no remorse or pity. “Of course it’s true. I’m ashamed to call you my father. I thought you’d know better.” 

“Carol, you need to come over here.” Marcus made a sharp gesture with his hand and Carol was surrounded by a transporter beam. Faith didn’t even think. She dropped her PADD and took Carol’s wrist and Jim Kirk watched as Marcus kidnapped his daughter and one of his crew members, one he never remembered seeing before. 

~~~ 

Buffy looked at the two security officers she, Kristie, Joanna and Joachim had knocked out. She was sorry to do it, but she wasn’t spending her time in the brig. She had something more important to do. The first thing Marcus would’ve done was kill the engines, followed by the transporter. The _Enterprise was dead in the water and her crew couldn’t leave, making it easy for Marcus to blow it out of the sky._

Kirk’s first goal would be to get onto the _Vengeance_ and arrest Marcus for war crimes, or whatever he was going to charge the admiral with. The only people he knows who can go across a debris field would be either her or Khan. Her bet was that Kirk would ask Khan, since he was the one who wasn’t sent to the brig. That meant that she had time before her absence was discovered. Buffy hoped that that absence wasn’t felt until she and her people were safely aboard the _Vengeance_. 

~~~ 

Faith grinned viciously when she materialized on the bridge of the _Vengeance_. There were only two other people other than Marcus and his daughter and they were taken out quickly. Marcus turned his attention to her. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded, apparently forgetting that he was still onscreen with Kirk. 

Faith didn’t answer. She punched him square in the jaw, using all of her strength. Marcus dropped and Faith turned to Kirk. “Your welcome.” 

Kirk, Spock, Sulu, and the rest of the crew currently on the bridge of the _Enterprise_ picked up their jaws. “How did you do that?” 

Faith shrugged, and put on a mysterious smile as she made her way tom the Comm station “You should’ve had the talk from Khan.” 

Kirk stiffened and the surprise fell from his face. “You’re one of his?” 

“One of his what, Captain?” Sulu asked. 

Neither Kirk nor Faith answered him. “What do you want?” Kirk said instead, still directing his words to Faith. 

“What we’ve always wanted, Kirk. Freedom.” Faith leaned over the chair and pressed a button. Let Kirk think that she was an Augment instead of a Slayer. It wouldn’t do her any harm. She pressed a few more buttons on the Comm station, bringing up an ancient signal that was no longer used in modern times, radio. “Lehane to Summers. I’ve gotten aboard Homebase. Over.” 

“How did you manage to do that? Over.” 

“Your big bad was attempting to kidnap his daughter so I hitched a ride. Over.” 

“Quick thinking. Good. Lock down the bridge and hold tight there. Do you feel confident in getting the transporter up and running? Over.” 

“Do you have something I can test on? Over.” 

“Your cryotube is empty. Try that. Over.” 

Faith pressed a few buttons, but was distracted by a sound behind her. The man who had manned the tactical station wasn’t as unconscious as she had thought. He had crawled back to his station and was pressing buttons. Faith hurried over to him, but the guy managed to lock onto the _Enterprise_ and send off a shot at the saucer section of the ship. “Shit!” Faith hissed. She punched the guy in the face and ripped a length of his uniform off and hogtied him. Faith quickly hogtied the other officer and the admiral before setting them aside. 

“You can’t just attack people.” Faith looked up from her crouch. Carol Marcus was looking at her in surprise and a little fear. Faith had forgotten that Carol was there, that she was the reason that Faith had made it to the _Vengeance._

“The world is a scary place,” Faith said, walking around Carol and over to the science station. “If you’re not ready for it, it’ll kill you.” 

“Is that what you’re going to do to me?” 

Faith didn’t answer, she was busy looking at the readouts the science station was giving her. “The weapons didn’t fire,” she whispered, mostly to herself. “The guy fired, but the weapons didn’t go off.” 

“Lehane, you still there? Over.” 

“We’ve got a saboteur on board, Summers,” Faith said, hurrying back over to the comm station. “I’ll get back to you. Out.” Faith started fiddling with the controls, attempting to tune into the frequency that the saboteur was using to commuicate with the _Enterprise._

“… messed with the engines and weapons. They won’t be able to do anything for at least half an hour,” said a Scottish accent. 

“Good going, Scotty!” Kirk said enthusiastically. “Our transporters are out and we need on that ship. You’re in more trouble that you realize. Any ideas?” 

“You could fly through space in thruster suits, but you’re going to have to worry about the debris field from the _Enterprise_ ,” Scotty said. “There’s a scantily guarded cargo bay down the corridor. If you get shot out of the garbage shoot, then you can fly into the cargo hold.” 

“Stay near the work station you’re using, Scotty. We’ll get back to you.” 

Faith found Buffy’s frequency after Kirk and Scotty said their goodbyes. “Lehane to Summers. We’re going to get boarded if we’re not careful. Over.” 

“I trust you. Do it without the test. Put us all in the lounge on Deck 4. I’ll be there soon. Out.” 

Faith nodded and quickly found the lounge that Buffy had talked about. She quickly made her way to the tactical station. A minute later, the _Enterprise_ ’s shields dropped. Faith quickly pressed buttons, locking onto everyone who was awoken and everyone who was still asleep. She left the tubes with _Enterprise_ crew members in them and the tubes with the magicked people in them. Kirk could have those. 

“What exactly are you doing?” Carol said. 

“We are making a break for it,” Faith answered as she locked onto the tubes and people she wanted. “Earth hasn’t been a home for people like us since 2020. People and things have hunted me down since I was 16 and I’m tired of it. All we want is a place to call our own. Our people designed this ship with that in mind. The name is perfect. We are getting our vengeance, by leaving the Earth to itself, like it has been left alone for the past 300 years. Something’s coming and when it does, Starfleet might find that it alienated the only people who can help.” 

“I don’t understand,” Carol admitted. “What are you talking about?” 

Faith didn’t answer. She had barely completed the transport cycle when _Enterprise_ raised her shields. But Faith let out a sigh of relief when she got the confirmation that transportation was successful. All of the Slayers and Augments were now currently aboard the _Vengeance._

Faith walked over to the comm station and hailed the _Enterprise_. Kirk looked back at her, only slightly surprised. “Still in charge, then?” he asked. “Where is Admiral Marcus and Dr. Marcus?” 

Carol walked into the picture. “I’m safe. So is my father and the other two men on the bridge.” 

“And they never were in much danger. At least Carol wasn’t. How the others are treated depends.” 

“On?” Kirk prompted. 

“On whether they agree to let us go,” Faith said. 

“Khan has to pay for his crimes, and so does Summers.” 

Faith laughed. “So many people have tried to bring Buffy down. Not one of them succeeded. What makes you so sure you can do it?” 

“I already have her in custody.” 

“I’m afraid that tales of my incarceration have been exaggerated, Captain.” Buffy walked onto the bridge, Khan at her side and several others trailing behind. The two of them looked powerful and threatening, but beautiful together. Khan might’ve been a head taller than Buffy, but the smaller woman’s presence drowned Khan’s with the current expression on her face. She was every inch the protective leader she had been 300 years ago and Kirk visibly shrunk back a little. “Faith, Paul, Dawn, take your stations.” 

Dawn followed the mousy brunet Augment to the two stations in front and sat at tactical while Paul sat at navigation. Faith remained at communications. 

“You understand why we’re doing this,” Buffy continued, her eyes never leaving Kirk’s. “All we want is to live free from the possibility of persecution, of being killed in cold blood for what we are. We never really cared where or when we lived. All it took was 300 years of sleep and ten years of patience. Lower your shields. We will transport every member of Section 31 over to your ship, including both Marcuses and your precious Commander Scott. In exchange you let us go.” 

“How do I know that you won’t turn around and kill everyone in your path? How do I know you won’t come back and slaughter us all in our sleep? You hijacked the most powerful ship in the fleet!” Kirk stood up, Spock ever present at hi shoulder. Both looked concerned, even if Spock’s look of concern didn’t look much different from his normal expression. 

“You don’t,” Khan replied instead. “Just as we don’t know if we’ll have to continue to run for the rest of our lives. We’re trusting you to let us be. We’ve got what we want, a fast ship and our people awake. How do you think Buffy got away from you? Your guards were Slayers and an Augment. Faith was a Slayer who snuck aboard your bridge. We infiltrated your crew and you never noticed.” 

“Where are my people?” Kirk said, his voice as cold as ice. 

“In cryotubes where the torpedoes were,” Buffy said. “Every last one of them. Now, do you want the former crew of the _Vengeance_ , or should we simply dispose of them another way before we leave?” 

Kirk’s glare promised murder, but he relented. “Lower shields.” 

“Dawn,” Buffy said with a small nod. 

Dawn pushed a few buttons and the Starfleet officers were transported off the _Vengeance_ and onto the _Enterprise_. Faith cut the comm feed at a signal from Buffy. “Get us out of here, before more Starfleet ships come,” Buffy said. “I’m not sure if I trust Kirk not to turn us in.” 

“Kirk will have his hands full with Admiral Marcus, even if he does get reprimanded for letting us go,” Khan said. 

“Where would you like us to go?” Paul asked. 

“The general direction of Pluto,” Buffy said after a few minutes. “I don’t think I’ve gone over there yet.” 

~~~ 

Buffy slowly made her way around the ship. It was massive, with 35 decks that were nearly two miles in circumference. She was inspecting every workstation for signs of tampering from either Mr Scott or any of the Section 31 personnel who were on board. So far everything seemed to be alright. She was interrupted outside of the botany lab on Deck 10 when she felt a tug on her arm. Buffy turned around and smiled. Karen, beautiful, graceful, lovable Karen, was behind her with her arms spread. “Hi, Mom!” 

“Hey, baby! I’ve missed you so much!” Buffy pulled her daughter into a hug, smoothing down her dark hair. Karen had inherited her father’s curls and her mother’s coloring, but she had her father’s eyes. Buffy pulled away and pushed Karen’s honey brown locks out of her face and looked green eyes looked into delighted blue. “I can’t believe I forgot how big you are!” 

“Mom!” Karen protested. “Does this mean that I’m now old enough to join in on Slayer meetings?” 

“You were ten when you went to sleep, and you’re still ten. But as long as there’s nothing too important going on, you’re welcome to come.” 

“Thanks, Mom!” Karen hugged Buffy’s waist as Khan walked around the corner. 

“She’s just as wonderful as I remembered,” he said softly, as he wrapped his arm around Buffy’s shoulder and pulled her close. 

“We did it,” Buffy said wrapping her arms around her family. “We’re free, everyone’s here and alive and we’re safe.” 

“Until the next thing turns up,” Khan agreed, “and you know it will.” 

“Faith’s keeping an ear out. If something strange is going on somewhere, we’ll hear about it. We may even be able to make a living out of helping solve other people’s problems,” Buffy said. 

“We’ll draw the line at civil war,” Khan said. 

“Of course.” Buffy leaned against Khan as Karen rushed into the botany lab to look at the plants. “It’s a brave new world, after all.” 

Khan bent down and kissed Buffy deeply. It was time for a new beginning. 


End file.
